Wondering if I am just an old crankypants....

veronicasmom

Songster
10 Years
Aug 31, 2009
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I have heard and read of classrooms hatching out chicks and ducks at this time of year. Let's be honest. No one wants roosters or drakes. So what happens to them? Is this a good lesson to be teaching kids, that if you get what you don't want, you just dispose of them?
I hate Easter. I have rabbits that were thrown out in a trash bag because they were Easter bunnies and no longer wanted 6 months later. I have a couple of ducks that were Easter gifts and well, imagine that, they got too smelly and messy to be fun any more. So, they were dumped.
I just had to jump on my soapbox once again.
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Well I don't have to wonder if I am an old crankypants, I KNOW I am!
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That said, I don't generally feel good about these classroom hatch projects UNLESS: There is a knowledgeable person in charge who knows how to care for chicks once they hatch and there are plans in advance as to who is able to provide a home for the chicks. I feel care and rehoming needs to be just a big a part of the project and not just seeing the chicks hatch and then never thinking beyond that point.

I do get pretty unhappy when I see chicks from classroom hatches handed out after school like party favors for kids to take home. No knowledge of care, no preparation, nobody gives a rip what becomes of those birds. That ticks me off.

A well planned out hatch with properly cared for chicks who go to homes that are ready and able to raise chicks/chickens is a great experience for kids who also learn about respect for life and caring for that creature long term.
 
I have heard and read of classrooms hatching out chicks and ducks at this time of year. Let's be honest. No one wants roosters or drakes. So what happens to them? Is this a good lesson to be teaching kids, that if you get what you don't want, you just dispose of them?
I hate Easter. I have rabbits that were thrown out in a trash bag because they were Easter bunnies and no longer wanted 6 months later. I have a couple of ducks that were Easter gifts and well, imagine that, they got too smelly and messy to be fun any more. So, they were dumped.
I just had to jump on my soapbox once again.
he.gif


If people would do it ... it would be a great time to teach the kids where their FOOD comes from. So Many have NO CLUE that thing dont just show up in the store because you wished it there.
ok, off MY soapbox,
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I have been thinking for several weeks - actually, since we adopted Romy and Michele three months ago - about ducks (and chicks, rabbits, any former pets) being dumped.

While I have been subject to making bad decisions, impulse buys, just like anyone else, it does bother me this time of year to think of people whose Plan B is to abandon animals.

For what it's worth, and it's a drop in the bucket, I wrote a letter to the editor of our local paper weeks ago warning people that such a Plan B is awful, and not to do it.
 
If people would do it ... it would be a great time to teach the kids where their FOOD comes from. So Many have NO CLUE that thing dont just show up in the store because you wished it there.
ok, off MY soapbox,
duc.gif
Reminds me of that stupid McDonald's commercial where the little girl asks where breakfast comes from and the mother makes up an idiot story about a "far away land and there are giants" (cut to pic of farm and farmers loading up produce) and they bring food to McDonalds! Ok, whatever, thank's for spreading the ignorance McDonalds!

Sorry, off topic! Carry on!
 
I have heard and read of classrooms hatching out chicks and ducks at this time of year. Let's be honest. No one wants roosters or drakes. So what happens to them? Is this a good lesson to be teaching kids, that if you get what you don't want, you just dispose of them?
This isn't the lesson we are teaching in my classroom.
Our project took a month to get started because we were busy finding homes for the potential ducklings and chicks. If we didn't have homes for them, we weren't going to do the hatching project.
I bought a chicken magazine and went through it with a couple of the kids one night and they now know where their meat comes from. I was their age when I learned that pork was pig, and our 2 pigs in the pens in the back yard weren't exactly pets, and refused to eat pork for years.

So my kids will know that people eat chickens and ducks and cows and other things. That's part of our lesson with this.
My kids are also learning that just because you want a cute little duckling or chick, doesn't mean you get to bring one home. They are living beings and need proper care. They are to talk that over with parents and if they can't provide proper care for them or their family doesn't want to help, it means a cute little duckling or chick doesn't go home with them.
We do have a bunch of homes lined up. And we have somebody willing to take any of the chicks that don't have a home after those that have requested them get them. Same for the ducks - the person that provided us with the eggs will take back any ducklings.

I will be taking a duckling as well as a few chicks (depending on what breeds we end up with). Another teacher will be taking about 6 chicks and maybe a couple of ducks. One of the kids grandparents may take a couple of ducks. The owner of the company will take a couple of them. Our director has found others that would like ducks or chickens. So we are doing well on the finding homes side of things. The extra chicks will go to a friend who will eat any roosters.
 
I don't think you're a cranky pants at all. My father, God love him, has this whole thing thought out and actually helps his local schools. He provides the fertile eggs, but they have to provide all the equipment. The kids are welcome, with parental permission, to take home the chickens when it's time. He coaches, instructs and works with the students and the teachers. He gives all the information and help he can. Then when it's all said and done, he takes home the left overs. Isn't that great!? I love him for that. He found a way to accomplish the same thing for the students without hurting innocent creatures.

We raised rabbits as kids and my father taught us to be responsible. If we weren't, the animal was the one who suffered. I learned that lesson well and pass that along to my own children.
 
While I have been subject to making bad decisions, impulse buys, just like anyone else, it does bother me this time of year to think of people whose Plan B is to abandon animals.


Yep, me too. Impulse buys aren't always bad as long as you are accountable for what might go wrong down the road because of it.
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I am happy to hear of those who have well thought out plans. On-hand learning is a great thing! Many of these kids don't have animals, and their only chance to learn how to care properly for another living thing is through these projects. Yay for you guys!!!
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I don't think you're a cranky pants at all. My father, God love him, has this whole thing thought out and actually helps his local schools. He provides the fertile eggs, but they have to provide all the equipment. The kids are welcome, with parental permission, to take home the chickens when it's time. He coaches, instructs and works with the students and the teachers. He gives all the information and help he can. Then when it's all said and done, he takes home the left overs. Isn't that great!? I love him for that. He found a way to accomplish the same thing for the students without hurting innocent creatures.

We raised rabbits as kids and my father taught us to be responsible. If we weren't, the animal was the one who suffered. I learned that lesson well and pass that along to my own children.


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